So, the last post was heavier so I thought I’d go lighter today. Not that we won’t revisit heavy stuff because it’s kinda where I live (not to say I’m morose, I’m not. Just that I don’t shy away from heavy stuff and I believe that it’s in going through the heavy that you get to the light), but moderation is good. So, here some not quite so emotional stuff…

1. Because we say night-night about going to sleep, Happy insists that he is not waking up. He is, in fact, awake-awake. Point taken, baby boy.

2. Want to make Happy laugh harder than he already is? Tell him that what he is laughing at isn’t funny. He’ll be laughing about something and I’ll say in this funny, stodgy voice, “That’s not funny.” And he howls. Howls. HOWLS. Which, of course, is even funnier. We’re easy like that, kid and I.

3. So, I’ve been putting Happy down at night for about a month now. It used to be daddy and baby time but baby would freak out for hours after daddy left the room- in the mad hope that daddy would come back because on some very irregular schedule, daddy did come back. BF and I decided that I should try putting baby down since there is no history of trying to make me come back and dang if the kid doesn’t lay right down and do what is asked of him. I tuck the blanket all the way around him and put Hoot Hoot (his stuffed Owl, don’t you know?) in his left arm and we’re in business (But only after I sing that airplace song – which is Leaving on a Jet Plane). We’ve been laughing that all we ever needed to get the kid to sleep starting two years ago was this one blanket and Hoot Hoot (which he got at the Build a Bear birthday party). Who knew that sleep could come so effortlessly? Now that I said that, please do me a favor. KNOCK ON WOOD.

4. The sweetest part of our bedtime ritual? I cup Happy’s face right after I lay him down and say, “I love this face” and he insists that I lean way over so he can do it back and say the same thing. Seriously, if the kid wanted to be sure he had me hook, line, and sinker, it worked.

5. The Sugar Shack got framed last week, and it ended up four feet taller than what I expected but I’m not complaining. The initial framing went so fast that when I walked out a couple hours into it, the height was already established and I decided to just go with it. I think I’ll love the really tall ceiling and we had enough wood for the height so it was fine. The next to do is a roof but BF can’t do that so we’ll have to see when a roofer can work us in (since this project is so small, I don’t imagine we’ll be at the top of the priority list).

Already, I’m thinking through how I’ll outfit the Sugar Shack. I spent Sunday in the attic going through odds and ends furniture and think I have my desk, desk chair and some organizational, storage pieces, and art (including a hand-painted PRIVY sign with an arrow pointing back to the house) all eyeballed for the space. I might need to do some painting but I’ll try everything in the space first, mis-matched, to make sure it works and then paint accordingly.